Oregon-based Studio Gorm has created a complete kitchen in which energy is conserved and cooking waste is recycled and used to grow plants. Dubbed the flow kitchen, the design successfully integrates nature and technology into a system where drying dishes helps water plants and composting food waste helps to fertilize them.

Efficiently utilizing energy, waste, water, and other natural resources, John Arndt and Wonhee Jeong’s flow kitchen incorporates all the functions of a typical kitchen so that processes flow into one another in a natural cycle. Drying dishes hanging from a vertical storage rack drip onto herbs and edible plants, which are grown in carefully positioned containers below. A double-walled terracotta container acts as a refrigerator, keeping the inside cool as water evaporates through the outer wall, while food scraps are broken down by worms in a composter and the resulting fertilizer is used in the herb boxes to grow more food.

The kitchen also features storage jars made from unglazed earthenware with beech wood lids, a dish and utensil drawer to store plates, bowls, cups, and cutlery, a bag rack to hold produce, and a gas stovetop. The living kitchen is currently on view as part of an exhibition titled Call + Responseat the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Oregon through October 31.

The title (Flow Kitchen Minimizes Waste, Maximizes Sustainability) pulled me in but the design is ugly. Hopefully someone uses this as encouragement, or a starting point, for a good-looking and economical version. Done right and priced right, I’d buy it over the conventional setup.